Chuck & Sarah vs the Niece
by MyNameIsJeffNImLost
Summary: Chuck & Sarah have a new mission. Can Sarah handle it? Set post 4.17.
1. You Agreed to What?

Summary: Chuck and Sarah have a new mission.

Disclaimer: Nobody else owns anything here, so why would I?

Disclaimer 2: No beta. Why would I sucker/obligate/subject anyone into reading this when they didn't want to?

_Published: 21 Mar 2011_

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**Chapter 1**

**You Agreed to What?**

**After Chuck vs. the Bank of Evil, 4.17**

**Charah Apartment**

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"What'd you say, Chuck?" Sarah nuzzled into Chuck's neck, letting out a soft purr of contentment.

Chuck repeated exactly what Sarah thought she had incorrectly heard.

"I'm not in the mood for jokes right now, Chuck. Wouldn't you rather be cuddling?" She lifted a leg up to Chuck's torso so she was half on top of him.

"I'm not joking, Sarah."

Sarah abruptly stopped her plans for round two, rolling off of her fiancé. "You agreed to what?"

"Sarah, it's not a big deal." 

"Yes it is. There are so many reasons why that is a bad, bad idea. I don't know where to start." Sarah was steaming-not quite mad, but getting ready to shoot straight past mad to furious. She jumped out of bed and pulled on her robe so she could start pacing.

Chuck grinned as he sat up, despite a glare from Sarah. Her robe barely covered anything, but Chuck knew had to rein it in if he were to convince Sarah. "We're family. You had to know this would come up sometime."

"How was _I_ supposed to know that?"

"I'm sorry, Sarah. It's normal for families, especially when they live nearby."

"Are you trying to get me to move? We _could _relocate to D.C." Sarah completed another round-trip of the floor. "I thought we agreed that we aren't normal, Chuck!"

"I know. We are better than normal. That means this will be a piece of cake for us."

Sarah stopped her pacing, at looked at the floor. She mumbled, "I don't think I can do it."

"Sarah, you told me you worked on secret service detail protecting the President for a year. I am certain you can do this."

"It's not like I had to feed, burp, and change the President."

Chuck laughed. "I sure hope not."

"If terrorists were targeting your niece, I'm your spy. I just don't think I can do those other things. I'm not very maternal."

"Are you kidding me? The way you protected me for years was very-"

"Please don't say anything Oedipal."

"Fine. However, we're just talking about babysitting my beautiful niece for an hour or two. Ellie and Devon need a little time to themselves, so I offered to babysit while they went out for breakfast."

"You _offered_! Of course you offered. You're Chuck: too sweet from your own good."

Sarah flopped onto the bed. Chuck took her hand in his, slowly patting it for comfort.

After a quiet moment, Sarah spoke, "You realize I didn't babysit to make money like other girls did growing up?"

"I know that. Knocking off armored trucks pays better," Chuck teased.

Sarah couldn't hold back a small grin, which she twisted before asking a question, "How is either one of us supposed to know what to do?"

Chuck nodded, ready for this question. "Ellie said we can stop by any time between now and Saturday for a crash course in baby feeding, burping, and diaper changing."

"What if we have a mission on Saturday?"

"I've already reminded Ellie that your schedule is very unpredictable. She didn't have a problem with that and said we could reschedule if something came up."

"That's strange. She doesn't know you're a spy. Why would she reschedule when she would think you would still be around? She can't honestly think that I'd be better at taking care of Clara than you."

"I have told her many times that you can do anything." Chuck grinned. Sarah gave Chuck a look, so he continued more seriously, "No. I think she just thought our first time sitting for Clara would be easier if we could back each other up."

"First time? Is this going to be a regular thing?"

"I don't know. Probably not regularly scheduled, but it might happen from time to time. She's going to be your niece, too."

Sarah's eyes widened as if she hadn't thought of that before.

Chuck laughed. "Come on, Sarah. I thought you realized that by marrying me, you are getting a whole new family tree: an over-protective sister-in-law, an awesome brother-in-law, a spy mother-in-law, a bearded best friend, and an adorable niece."

"I guess I'm getting the better deal because you're just getting a con-man father-in-law."

"And a beautiful. Intelligent. Amazing. Wife." Chuck punctuated each word with a quick kiss.

"Don't forget that I'm getting the wonderfully charming husband." Sarah leaned into Chuck for a deeper kiss. He fell backwards, bringing her with him.

After a few moments of passionate kissing, Sarah abruptly pushed away and sat back up on the bed, taking a position at the corner of the bed. "I can't believe you did that!"

"What did I do?" Chuck protested.

"First you bring this whole thing up while cuddling after fantastic sex. Then you distract me with your lips!"

"Hey, that last one was all you."

"You were about to make that a lot more than kissing. You're using Roan's method!"

Sarah gave Chuck a hard stare. After a moment, he broke, "Fine! I figured the only time I'd have a chance at equal footing was after sex when we are both a pile of goo. We've already proven that your version of dress-up seduction is far more effective than mine."

"We did, huh? We aren't eloping are we? And who's getting me to go along with this baby-sitting thing?"

Chuck raised and lowered his eyebrows several times with a big grin on his face.

"Stop that right now, Chuck, or I'll have to pull a knife to defend myself from your eyebrow dance." Sarah sounded like she was only half teasing.

Chuck rebutted, "I know you don't have on _anything_ under that robe, so I'm feeling pretty safe right now."

"First, I had a sheath sewn into this robe after that whole Agent Rye fiasco, and second, you should know by now I really don't need a knife." Sarah continued her stare.

Chuck gulped rather loudly.

Having made her point, Sarah looked down and contemplated the scenario. She knew that if she was going to be a part of Chuck's family, she'd have to do this eventually. It couldn't be _that_ bad. Most twelve year old girls did babysit. And she'd have Chuck with her. Sarah finally smiled, scooted back over, and gave Chuck a quick peck on the lips.

"I guess we have a new mission. Saturday. 8 AM. Operation Clara," Sarah stated firmly.

Chuck grabbed Sarah around the waist and rolled her across the bed as she playfully yelped in protest. Time for round two.

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A/N: Coming next: Mission Prep


	2. Mission Prep

_Published: 22 Mar 2011_

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**Chapter 2**

**Mission Prep**

**Charah Apartment**

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"Hey, Chuck. Where have you been?"

Chuck closed the front door and slowly approached his fiancée at the dining room table. He had no idea what she was doing, but it didn't look good. "I was just settling a domestic dispute between Morgan and Casey," he replied.

"I don't know what Morgan was thinking when he moved in with his girlfriend's dad."

"Morgan's the kind of guy to jump off a cliff before figuring out what to do next. He could have waited to find a place to live, but he moved back into Big Mike and Bologna's love shack first. Once he figured out third wheeling them was worse than us, he jumped to Casey. I guess he figured Casey would be the third wheel."

Sarah laughed. "Like Casey would let that happen."

"I know." Chuck was standing next to Sarah now, still not certain why she was packing a black backpack. "What'cha doing?"

"I'm getting ready for today's mission. Don't worry. When I saw you were gone, I started packing for you, too. You should change, though."

"What's wrong with what I'm wearing?"

"It's not really mission gear."

"We're babysitting. I don't need a flak jacket. This T-shirt and jeans will be fine. I'm more concerned about what you're packing. You do realize that Ellie and Devon have everything we're going to need. That's why we are going over there instead of Clara coming here."

"Of course Clara can't come here! We haven't baby-proofed yet. No drawer locks. No plug covers. We really need to get supplies the next chance we have."

"Sarah, honey, Clara can barely roll over. We have a little time. What is that?"

"Surveillance equipment."

"They have baby monitors."

"I know. I just thought while we were there, we should use something that doesn't have static interference when planes fly overhead or from cell phone towers. This monitor frequency hops in ranges not allocated by the FCC for residential use."

"I've already tweaked their monitors to stay clear of the courtyard surveillance frequencies. So they are already on a clear channel. What's this?"

"It's a white noise generator which uses active feedback to hide conversations. I thought if the Jeffster lamb stops working we could try this out. I have batteries for the lamb, too. I thought the generator would be easier than running a vacuum cleaner."

"You don't need to bring that with us. We're just going to be across the courtyard. If there's a problem, one of us will come get it. Same with the extra diaper, baby power, and wipes I see in the bag. I'm sure they have plenty because I helped Devon bring in bags from the store last night. I can't believe you went baby supply shopping."

Chuck pulled something else out of the backpack. "Please tell me this is not what I think this is."

"What if she gets lost? She can't talk and ask for help. She can't dial 9-1-1."

"Sarah! She's not a pet. You are not chipping our niece!" Chuck said, waving the injector in her face.

Sarah ignored the 'our' for the moment to defend her point. "This isn't the same system used for pets. This is the new system used track high-level CIA assets. It is passive and encrypted so enemy agents can't hack in. It was recently developed because _some_ assets recklessly remove their watches on occasion." Sarah leveled a pointed glare at Chuck.

"Nice try, but my impulsive behavior led to our first real, non-cover kiss at the docks, so you're losing your argument. I say again, we are not putting a tracking chip in an infant." Chuck slid the injector across to the far end of the table. "Well else have you got?"

"Well..."

"Please tell me you don't have a gun. No guns when babysitting."

"Seriously, Chuck? I know that."

"No knives either."

"Wait a second. I _always_ carry knives. What if someone tries to break-in while we're there?"

"Then we will just have to rely on my flashes and your fists of fury. In a pinch, we could always use one of Ellie's frying pans."

"Are you sure?"

"Sarah."

"Fine," Sarah pouted. She removed a knife from behind her waist.

"The other one, too."

Sarah huffed and then reached under her shirt and pulled a second knife from her bra.

"Thank you. Now change into some normal shoes. We're not getting tied up so you don't need the boot knife."

Sarah groaned and stomped out of the room.

"You know I love you," Chuck called after Sarah.

A minute later she walked back out wearing her workout shoes, which Chuck was _fairly_ certain were just normal cross-trainers. "Thank you," Chuck said as he kissed her on the cheek.

"So basically, you are saying I don't need a mission pack."

"You can bring your phone and your watch. If we need baby help, we can call Ellie. If the Russian mob attacks, you can use the phone to call Casey and the watch to signal for back-up special forces."

Sarah swatted Chuck playfully. Chuck caught her arm and pulled her into a hug. "What's really bothering you, Sarah?"

"We missed out on Ellie's training exercise because of a mission. We don't know what we are doing. We're going in blind. Are you sure diaper changing is not in the Intersect?"

Chuck continued his tight hug of Sarah. "Pretty sure. I think I would have flashed the first time we all smelled _that smell_. Don't worry we'll be fine. I read that _Babies for Dummies_ book on the way back from Tripoli. While I'm sure the book makes it sound easier than the real thing, we'll manage."

"I should have prepared, too," Sarah said into Chuck chest.

"You needed the sleep. I know you are still favoring your right side from that big guy you took out."

Sarah pulled away, but continued holding his hands. "He wasn't that big."

"He made Casey look like… Morgan. The Gobbler would have thought twice before taking him on. You're just lucky he didn't crack a rib.

Chuck rubbed the back of Sarah's hands with his thumbs. "Don't worry about this morning. We'll manage. Next time will be easier." Chuck paused. "I know you, though. What else is bothering you?"

Sarah released Chuck's hands, turned back to the pack, and started unloading the rest of it. "I know what you are doing."

"What? I don't understand."

"Your and Ellie's plan."

"What plan?"

"Maybe it's more her plan, but you're complicit."

"I still have no idea what you're talking about."

Sarah almost whispered, "The whole reason why we are babysitting is so I fall in love with Clara and decide I want a baby of my own."

Chuck stepped behind Sarah and put his arms around her. "Listen, Sarah. That was not my plan. I was just trying to be a good brother when I got us into this. What I told you before is still true. I'm not ready for kids. Maybe someday, but not yet. Since it takes both of us to have a baby, I think you are safe for now.

"Now my sister, she might have secret plans. But I swear she hasn't enlisted me. Considering she was unsuccessful for three years with her plans to push our relationship forward, I think you can be certain you are safe from her manipulations. And Devon knows better. The last time he tried to meddle, he got arrested. I know I was part of that plan, but really I was kidnapped and thrown in the middle of it. That's not happening here."

Sarah turned in Chuck's arms as he calmly spoke to her. "Let me tell you a secret, Sarah. You already love Clara." Sarah looked at Chuck with some doubt. Chuck continued, "Do you care about her?"

"Yes."

"Would you do anything to protect her?"

"I would."

"Would you put yourself in an uncomfortable situation to make sure her life is better?"

"Of course I would, Chuck. These questions are stupid. I'd do anything for her. She's your family."

"And I'm your family, so that makes her your family too. Something I think I told you once… we Bartowskis do anything for family, because we love our family."

Sarah smiled at the memory of discovering her first ever best friend at the Buy More while listening to the sound of _Africa_. After a moment, she pulled Chuck into a lingering kiss.

"Since we Bartowskis do anything for members of our family, let's go babysit one," Chuck stated.

Chuck offered his hand to Sarah, and they walked across the courtyard for their mission.

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A/N: Coming next: The Mission

True story... I recorded fifteen seconds of a vacuum cleaner, looped it, and burned a CD for my sister to use with my nephew. My sister usually uses a Cloud b Cuddle Cub, but has been known to fall back to the CD when all else fails.


	3. The Mission

_Published: 24 Mar 2011_

A/N: This is what you get when you try to figure out what Ellie and Sarah would talk about... other than Chuck and the upcoming wedding.

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**Chapter 3**

**The Mission**

**The Woodcomb Apartment**

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_Knock. Knock. Knock._

"Hey! It's Uncle Chuck and Aunt Sarah!"

Ellie motioned them inside and briefly hug them both. Devon was walking downstairs with a baby monitor handset. He spoke softly, just loud enough for everyone to hear, "Quiet everyone. I think I finally got Clara asleep."

Ellie covered her mouth, "Oops." Ellie linked her arm in Sarah's, who was still barely inside the door. "Devon, honey, why don't you show Chuck where everything is upstairs. I'm going to talk with Sarah a minute."

Sarah's eyes saucered as she quickly considered a half dozen ways to extract her arm from Ellie without incapacitating her too badly. Chuck, who had been holding Sarah's other hand, gave it a quick squeeze before releasing and following his brother-in-law back upstairs.

Ellie barely contained her laugh at Sarah's obvious reaction. "Don't worry Sarah. I'm not ambushing you." Ellie pulled her to the sofa and took a seat in the adjacent chair. Sarah was not convinced and was still waiting for what she fully expected was coming. She just thought it would not come so quickly.

"Sarah, don't freak out. I'm not trying to pressure you about having a baby. I think you have enough on your plate planning the wedding." Sarah began to relax a little as Ellie continued, "Chuck really wanted to get into the whole Uncle thing and pushed me into this babysitting idea. I wasn't sure I was ready to leave Clara, except with Devon, of course. I thought that since Chuck wanted to do this so badly, he could suffer through Devon's babysitting crash course, while I give you an excuse to avoid it."

Sarah finally exhaled. "Thanks, Ellie." Chuck had misrepresented this whole babysitting operation. _He_ was the one who pushed for it. He'd be getting it later.

"To be honest, the only reason I wanted you here was to keep Chuck calm. I trust him, but he sometimes freaks out under pressure. I saw how calm and in charge he was in Costa Gravis, and I figured that must be because you were with him."

Sarah smiled. She wanted to defend Chuck and explain that behind his sometimes frantic exterior was a hero who could handle anything. However, it was probably best to avoid further discussions about Chuck and the spy world.

"I was thinking, Sarah, maybe we could go shopping tomorrow and hit some weekend clothing sales."

"Oh, you want to look for bridesmaids dresses?" Sarah was surprised about the change of topic, but was happy they were not longer talking about babies.

"No, just normally shopping. I'm finally back to my pre-pregnancy weight and wanted to celebrate with some new clothes. I thought you might want to restock your closet as well."

Sarah looked at Ellie with confusion. She didn't know what was wrong with the clothes in her closet. Ellie noticed Sarah's expression and quickly clarified, "Oh no. I didn't mean to imply anything is wrong with what is in your closet. I just remember you used to have those cute purple and blue tops, but you never wear them anymore. I thought maybe they were worn out from the laundry."

Sarah thought something was up. Ellie had already looked over her shoulder twice since they sat down. She decided to go with some levity until she figured out what was going on. "Ellie, when have you ever seen me do laundry?"

"Well, no, I haven't."

"I have most of my clothes dry-cleaned."

"Wow. That must be expensive."

"The CIA covers it."

"Oh. So did the dry cleaner lose your clothes, or were they in your car when it was stolen?"

Sarah looked at Ellie like she had two heads. "Who told you my car was stolen?"

"No one. I just assumed it was because you've been riding with Chuck and John a lot, and your car hasn't been parked on the street. It seemed like an easy target."

Sarah released an evil grin. "I would have loved to see someone try to steal it. It had a state of the art tracking system. If the local car theft ring managed to somehow steal it, we would have tracked them to their chop shop, and they would be out of business."

"Don't mess with a spy, huh?"

"Not a good idea."

"Then where is your car?"

This was becoming a really awkward conversation. "It wasn't my car. It was a government vehicle."

"So they took it back?"

"No. It was…" Sarah hesitated. She didn't want to scare Ellie, but she didn't want to lie to her either. "Let's just say it was totaled."

"Oh my God, what happened?"

"Carina happened," Sarah stated as if that should explain everything.

"The tall bridesmaid I met at the party?"

"Yes. She borrowed it, and let's just say… I never got it back." Sarah noted that Ellie had looked upstairs another four times.

"That's why she was injured."

Sarah nodded.

"You keep saying 'let's just say'. I don't want to know the details, do I?"

"No, you don't," Sarah deadpanned. "Anyway, now I'm waiting for the replacement. With the economy not doing as well, I have to wait for a captured vehicle. There's no guarantee I'll get a Porsche. The DEA always seems to take the best cars, but Carina is helping with that. Then I have to wait for the CIA mechanics to install their modifications."

"Like the tracking system you mentioned?"

"That, plus security, tune the engine for higher speeds, and a few other features."

"You're not going to get rocket launchers like John's car. Are you?"

Sarah laughed, "I don't know. When Chuck found out I was getting a new car, he made me watch a bunch of Bond films showing the features I should request. But I'm just going with whatever the techs decide to put in." Something was happening upstairs. Sarah needed to figure out what.

Ellie quirked her head with an odd thought. "What does a spy think of Bond films?"

"Actually, Chuck only fast forwarded to the car scenes with Q. He won't watch the movies with me anymore because I pick apart the plots and complain about the realism," Sarah said.

Ellie laughed. "I think the same thing with doctor shows, but Devon loves ER so I put up with it."

"I'm the same way with the super hero movies. Chuck gets so excited watching them, I just love watching him."

Sarah suddenly realized her mistake. All of this talk of clothes and cars was a distraction. Devon was putting the pressure on Chuck so he would put the baby pressure on Sarah! How could she have been so blind?

Almost on cue, Chuck and Devon returned down the stairs. The baby monitor was clipped to Chuck's waistband and a burp towel was over his shoulder. Why he needed one of those now was anyone's guess.

Chuck rubbed his hands together and declared, "I think I'm ready. The Captain has given me the lay of the land and my marching orders. What have you two girls been talking about? Ellie, you better not be pressuring Sarah with baby talk."

Sarah thought that was odd. Why would he ask that if he had just been getting the pressure pitch?

"Wouldn't dream of it, little brother."

"No, Chuck, Ellie has been disparaging my wardrobe."

"I… I wasn't… It's just you've been wearing a lot of black lately. In fact, except at the party, you've been wearing black every time I've seen you."

Sarah's mouth dropped open, not sure what to say. She was currently wearing black work-out shoes, black jeans, and a black turtleneck. But that didn't mean she was only wearing black. Fortunately Chuck clarified the issue, "Honey, she's talking about your mission-wear."

Chuck continued, "Ellie, Sarah doesn't even realize she is doing it. See, her real mission wardrobe is a cross between evening gowns, black leather 'undercover evil' attire, and functional, breaking-and-entering attire, which is also black. Considering a lot of the gowns are black, you could say Sarah wears a lot of black. Lately, whenever you've seen her, it has been to plan for the wedding or to babysit. Sarah has been approaching these activities as 'missions', so she's been wearing her casual black outfits."

Ellie cover her mouth trying to hold in a laugh. "Chuck," Sarah protested, swatting Chuck lightly on the arm, "why didn't you say something?"

Chuck gave her a teasing smile. "Because I thought it was cute." He reached around her with one arm and pulled her to his side in a half-hug while Sarah blushed.

Ellie said, "I guess you don't need to go shopping with me then. My mistake. I should leave the spying and deduction to the professionals."

Sarah let her embarrassment drop. "No, Ellie, I would love to go shopping with you. Just don't expect me to buy much. Nearly all of my clothes are part of the CIA wardrobe."

Something was still bothering Sarah. Most people wouldn't notice, but Sarah was a spy. Why were Ellie's eyes still glancing upstairs on a regular basis?

"My girl has the biggest closet this side of Beverly Hills."

"Chuck, it's bigger than those closets, too."

Ellie finally caught on. "So that endless supply of cute outfits you used to wear-"

"None of them were mine," Sarah finished. "I really only own a couple dresses, a few blouses, jeans, and slacks, and of course my underwear and sleepwear."

"Part of which is mine." Chuck interjected, before realizing what he had just said. "Uh, the sleepwear, not the underwear. I just mean she sometimes wears one of my T-shirts, which is really too much information, so I'll shut up now."

Everyone laughed at that. Ellie said, "Ok, Sarah, if you don't mind, you can help me shop tomorrow, and maybe we could hit Victoria's Secret at the end."

Chuck and Devon's eyes both bulged, but they somehow managed to restrain themselves from high-fiving each other.

"Sounds great." Sarah confirmed. "Speaking of going… you two should really head off to breakfast before it's lunchtime."

Ellie looked around and then focused on the kitchen. "Maybe we should all just have breakfast here. I could make pancakes."

Devon tugged on Ellie's arm. "Let's go, Babe."

"Ok, honey. I'm sure you two will be fine. According to my charts, Clara won't be wetting her diaper for two to three hours, and we'll be back by then. There's also an 80% chance she'll just sleep the entire time. If not, just hold her, and she'll quiet down. If that doesn't work, there's a 43% chance..." Ellie rattled off the statistics with no hint of slowing down.

Sarah looked at Chuck with her '_What the heck is the crazy lady talking about?'_ face. It was a look that was becoming more frequent since Ellie first became pregnant.

Devon interrupted the statistics lecture. "Ellie's been having some separation anxiety issues, but we're going now. Call us if you have questions. Thanks for doing this guys. You're both awesome." Everyone said their goodbyes, and Devon practically dragged Ellie out the front door.

Chuck and Sarah stared at each other, barely avoiding breaking out in giggles. Sarah finally broke the stare-off. "Let's go upstairs and check on our niece."

**XXXXXXXX**

_**Twenty minutes later**_

"Chuck, we have a problem."

"What is it?"

"You've been really sweet about not pressuring me about babies, and Ellie admitted she has no current intention of doing so either."

"Ok. Then what's the problem?"

"Clara is not cooperating."

"I know. Isn't she precious?"

"Do you know of any way to make her less adorable?"

"I think her waking up, screaming, and pooping her diaper might be the trick."

"No. We wouldn't want that."

Sarah squeezed Chuck's hand and they continued to stare at baby Clara in her crib. They had not moved or even thought of diverting their gazes since they came upstairs.

Suddenly, their attention was broken by some noises downstairs.

"Chuck! I can't believe I let you talk me out of the knives," Sarah harshly whispered. "And I forgot to bring a frying pan upstairs with us. I'm going out the window to flank whoever is there. You protect Clara at all costs."

"Wait, Sarah!"

"We're back!" Sarah stopped opening the window at the call of Devon from downstairs.

Sarah exhaled, and she and Chuck hurried downstairs. "What's wrong?"

Ellie looked embarrassed as she slid around Chuck and Sarah to ascend the stairs.

"Separation anxiety struck just as we got to the café. That whole clothes shopping discussion was an attempt at a distraction, but it obviously didn't take. Thanks for helping out guys, but it appears your services are no longer required today." Devon, slapped Chuck on the back, causing him to jump slightly forward.

"No problem, Devon. Let us know when you want to try again."

Ellie descended the stairs hold a sleeping Clara. She quietly said, "Sarah, do you mind if Clara comes tomorrow, too?"

"Not at all, Ellie," Sarah said sincerely.

Chuck and Sarah said their goodbyes and returned to their apartment across the courtyard.

"So, Sarah, do you have that post-mission high where you feel like you need to work off the excess energy?" Chuck wagged his eyebrows.

"I do, Chuck. However we are not doing _anything_ that even _slightly_ resembles baby making right now."

Chuck nodded that was probably a good idea. "Ok, then what are we going to do?"

"Let's reorganize my clothes in our closet."

Chuck groaned as Sarah pulled him inside.

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A/N: Coming next, a short epilogue


	4. The Continuing Mission

A/N: Personally, I understand the need for angst warnings (when it's over-the-top) and especially for character death warnings. However, I've never understood the need for fluff warnings, so I refuse to do that. Wait. Oops.

_Published: 26 Mar 2011_

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**Chapter 4**

**The Continuing Mission**

**The Woodcomb Apartment**

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About a week later, Chuck and Sarah finally completed their mission. Devon and Ellie got a romantic night out for dinner, while Chuck and Sarah got a night with Clara.

Uncle Chuck and Aunt Sarah got the full experience. Clara was awake the whole three hours. They even had to change her once. The experience was memorable for all involved. They were lucky Clara was a girl because otherwise the walls would have been wet. Sarah thought about calling in an NSA cleaner team, but they managed without one. Clara seemed just as traumatized by the experience as her babysitters, but Chuck finally concluded it had nothing to do with the changing and was really just an excuse to exercise her pipes. He joined in with a soft lullaby, which both quieted Clara and melted Sarah's heart.

The rest of the evening went without a hitch. Clara might have even fallen asleep if it weren't for the regular calls from Ellie. Ellie wasn't _too_ bad. She only called four times: once arriving at the restaurant, once waiting for the appetizers, another time before dessert, and the final time to say they were on their way home.

Clara ate shortly before her parents left for dinner, but was getting fussy and hungry when they returned. Since Ellie had prepared a bottle 'just in case', they hung around to give Aunt Sarah the chance to feed her. That did it. When they returned home, Sarah told Chuck her decision. While she was not ready for a baby and being pregnant was not compatible with life as a spy, she was completely into the idea of being the Aunt and Uncle that vicariously lived through their relatives' kids. Chuck whole-heartedly agreed.

Chuck and Sarah sat for their niece (Sarah enjoying calling her that, even though it was not official), several more times over the next couple months. One time Clara was wearing an 'I heart my Uncle' bib and the next time she was wearing an 'I heart my Aunt' bib. A picture of Uncle Chuck, Aunt Sarah, and Clara in that second bib was added to Sarah's nightstand. Sarah even stood up to Beckman and pushed back a non-time sensitive mission so they would not have to cancel a babysitting night. On another occasion, while taking a break from wedding planning, Ellie showed Sarah how to give Clara a bath. Sarah _and _Clara had a blast, while Ellie stood back and grinned at the baby and the spy.

This particular afternoon, Ellie and Devon returned home to the most precious sight. Chuck was asleep, leaning back on the couch. Sarah, also asleep, was leaning back against Chuck, and in her arms she held a sleeping Clara. All three seemed to have a small smile.

Ellie quickly pulled a camera out of her purse. Parents with babies always have a camera within grasp. Sarah called it the three-foot rule. Before Ellie could take the picture, she saw one of Sarah's eyes staring directly back at her. So much for sneaking up on a spy. Ellie figured Sarah probably knew they were home the instant the key was inserted in the lock. Sarah just closed her eye, though, allowing Ellie to take her shot.

Ellie and Devon had just returned from their lawyer. Ellie and Devon made the easy decision a week ago. Of course, Sarah saw the paperwork before the Woodcombs could tell them their choice. When Sarah confronted them, the tables were turned. The issue was guardianship of Clara, if, God forbid, anything happened to both Ellie and Devon. Sarah thought Devon's parents would be a better first choice. Devon explained that being raised by a spy and a Nerd Herding ex-spy (Devon knew the truth even if Ellie didn't) is a lot more normal than being raised to be awesome. He loved his parents, but didn't want to subject Clara to them full-time. Sarah understood picking Chuck, but did not understand why she was to be named in the will. Sarah found herself subjected to a very similar interrogation as the one Chuck had given her a few weeks before. Did she care about Clara? Would she do anything to protect her? Did she love her? All easy yeses. That was all Clara needed, which is why Sarah was included, too.

Putting her camera away, Ellie just stared at her brother, her daughter, and her future sister-in-law. She knew they had made the right choice. If anything happened to them, Clara needed to be protected and loved. Chuck and Sarah were both up for that mission.

**XXXXXXXX**

A/N: That's all for this story. Once again, it's been fun. Thanks for your supportive reviews and for just stopping by. I hope you enjoyed it.


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